Frightening environmental report boon for NZ farmers?

A global report out today could present
a major opportunity for New Zealand agriculture.

The
Greenpeace International document released this evening
exposes the catastrophic environmental impacts of industrial
meat and dairy farming.

"The evidence is in. The world is
waking up to the fact that industrial livestock farming is
warming the planet, contaminating our rivers, tearing down
our forests, and putting our health at risk." says Gen Toop,
Greenpeace’s sustainable agriculture
campaigner.

"Polluting industrial farming practices are
coming under increasing scrutiny by our international
customers. If this is ignored, warns Greenpeace, the
imminent consumer shift away from industrial meat and dairy
products could present a major threat to our economy.

Left
unchecked, the report says agriculture is projected to
produce more than half of all global greenhouse gas
emissions by 2050, 70% of which will come from industrial
livestock.

As it stands the livestock farming is
responsible for 14 percent of global climate change
emissions. As much as all trains, ships, planes and cars put
together.

Industrial livestock farming is also a leading
cause of deforestation and water contamination
worldwide.

"Greenpeace in New Zealand has been campaigning
against the industrial farming practices that have taken
hold here. These include intensive stocking, the heavy use
of big irrigation, synthetic fertilisers, toxic
agri-chemicals and imported animal feed. " says
Toop.

"Fortunately, we also have a growing number of meat
and dairy farmers in New Zealand that have reduced their
herds and turned their backs on industrial practices -
working with the environment rather than to its
detriment."

"This report puts those progressive,
regenerative farmers in a prime position to take advantage
of this new global playing field."

The bottom line of
Greenpeace’s ambitious international campaign aims to
halve the world production of meat and dairy by 2050 and put
an end to polluting industrial farming practices.

This
comes off the back off a growing global chorus calling for a
cut in the production and consumption of meat and dairy. The
UN Environmental Group, the Food and Agriculture
Organisation and the World Wildlife Fund have already made
this call.

"The inevitable consumer shift towards less and
better meat and dairy is a chance for our Government to
unshackle NZ’s economy from its unhealthy dependence on
dirty intensive dairy farming and bulk low-value milk
powder."

Greenpeace is urging New Zealand politicians and
farming leaders to seize the opportunity.

"In fact, if we
don’t diversify NZ agriculture into more plant-based food
production and higher-value meat and dairy grown using truly
environmentally sound, regenerative farming methods, we’re
going to be left behind."

"The contamination of New
Zealand’s rivers from industrial dairying has already
attracted international media attention from outlets like
The Guardian and Al Jazeera.

"Landcorp the country’s
biggest farmer, is one of those seizing the opportunity
recently saying "our reality is that we will need fewer
animals on our land in the future and more plants," Toop
says

"This transformation in what we grow and how we grow
it won’t happen overnight and farmers will need help from
the Government, banks and their leadership to change."

"We
can save our rivers, our climate and our forests from
destructive industrial livestock farming. The alternative
farming methods are there, the markets are there, and the
urgency is there. All we need now is the political will to
make it happen."

-The
main findings direct GHG emissions from the agriculture
sector account for 24% of all global emissions, and
livestock emissions (including land-use change) account for
14%, which is comparable to the emissions from the whole
transport sector

-If left unchecked, agriculture is
projected to produce 52% of global greenhouse gas emissions
in the coming decades, 70% of which will come from meat and
dairy.

-The food system is also responsible for 80% of the
deforestation currently taking place in some of the most
biodiverse forests remaining on Earth, with livestock and
animal feed expansion being the most prominent single driver
of this destruction.

-Since 1970, the Earth has lost half
of its wildlife but tripled its livestock population.
Livestock production now occupies 26% of land on
Earth.

-This year it is expected that 76 billion animals
will be slaughtered to satisfy meat and dairy
consumption.Changes in human diets towards more plant based
foods could reduce around 20-40% of the projected increase
in extinction risk by 2060 for medium- and large-bodied
species of birds and
mammals.ENDS

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